Virtual Institute for Attractions Managers (IAM)

Since November 2016 , Emmanuel works as a Safety specialist at Disneyland Paris. Before joining Disneyland Paris Emmanuel was Director of Environmental Health and Safety since 2011 for Alstom Group and then for GE. He has also held various important positions related to his area of expertise, both in France and abroad, in companies such as Seagram-Universal, Pernod Ricard, and Safran. Emmanuel has more than 20 years of experience in Health, Safety, and Environment, as well as such as solid knowledge in risk prevention, crisis management, food & merchandise safety, engineering and maintenance.

Neil Dwyer has spent the last 19 years in theme parks and has extensive experience in many areas of attractions, both revenue and non-revenue generating. Currently working for Six Flags Qiddya as Director of Park Operations. Neil has worked with some of the most famous theme parks in the UK, including IMG Worlds of Adventure, Blackpool Pleasure Beach, and Camelot Theme Park. He has an extensive experience in multiple areas of attractions, development, projects, design, delivery, operations, revenue / non-revenue generating areas, capex, opex and full P&L control. Areas of direct responsibility have previously included Ticketing, Guest Services, Rides & Attractions, F&B, Retail, Security, Entertainments, IT, Training, Projects, Attraction Technical Services, Engineering, Maintenance and Facility Management Neil is a committee member for the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions (IAAPA) where he sits on the Amusement Parks and Attractions Committee.

Part of the leisure industry for over 20 years, after being in charge of marketing and press for the Italian market of Disneyland Paris, he joined Leolandia, the No. 1 Italian park for kids under 10. As the general manager and VP of strategic development, he led the park towards a 300% growth.  

Since 2016, he has been part of the coaching team for Seth Godin’s AltMBA and Marketing & Experience design professor at IULM University in Milan. Since 2018, he's served as Chairman of the EMEA Education Subcommittee and Member of the Board of IAAPA.

As TradeLab Leisure Consultant, he supports mall properties and developers to identify the best concepts to integrate leisure into shopping and food venues.

Massimiliano was named the second vice chair of IAAPA’s Board of Directors for 2023. He will serve as the first vice chair of IAAPA in 2024 and lead the global association for the attractions industry as the chair of the board in 2025.

French Lebanese born and raised, Maya Mattar is a people-development professional, educator, and speaker. In her 20 years of working in the service industry, with international experience across the Middle East and Southeast Asia, she has helped more than 10,000 individuals develop their skills. Maya has a master’s degree in Coaching Psychology and is passionate about helping individuals and organizations “change their doing by changing the viewing”. Maya was part of the award-winning Emirates Airline service training team and has led the core opening teams responsible in setting up, opening and operating different businesses in the leisure and entertainment sector for worldwide franchises and local organizations. Maya is the author of Amazon best seller book "Lasting Impressions - The Framework for Consistent Service Delivery". This book is a must-read for those in the service industry who are looking for practical tips and techniques on delivering excellence.

Food Service Executive with over 35 years of experience in high volume food and beverage operations. Expertise in Design/Build, HR Recruitment,Training and Team Building, Fiscal Capital and Operating Budgeting and building highly successful and profitable food service operations

Career Experience 

• Theme Parks: Sea World of Florida, Universal Studios Florida, Universal Studios Dubailand, Universal Studios Hollywood,  Six Flags Qiddiya. 
•  Sports & Entertainment Catering and Concessions: NASCAR, National Football League, National Basketball Association, National Hockey League, Major League Baseball, National College Athletics Association, The University of Notre Dame, and multiple Arena and Stadium Concerts and Special Events. 
•  Current Role – Director of Food & Beverage Operations for Six Flags Qiddiya and Wahat Water Park, the two flagship theme parks to open in 2024 as part of the Qiddiya Giga Project near Riyadh, KSA 

   

Filip de Witte benefits from 25 years of experience in management in different leisure parks of distinct sizes (from 300,000 to 1.8 million visitors). 

He is the former General Manager of Bellewaerde Park (Belgium), Parc Astérix (France) and Walibi Sud-Ouest (France). Through those different functions, he has been in charge of brand new events and activities that were very successful (winter season, Halloween, summer events). At this time, he managed large teams (200 permanent employees and 700 seasonal workers) and contributed to increasing the number of visits while reinforcing profitability and visitor satisfaction. 

As a seasoned professional, Filip joined the International Development Department of Compagnie des Alpes in 2014 and is currently the General Manager of FamiliPark, the largest theme park in Austria.

Additionally, Filip serves as a committee member on the IAAPA Global Membership Advisory Board.